Тег: noise

Under ancap, it is unlikely that all countries will instantly become single-story, so the question is about collective property.

Specifically regarding apartment buildings: what can be done in a future libertarian Russia with lunatics who keep rabid dogs in their apartments, bring trash from the landfill, drill every day, etc.?

анонимный вопрос

I have already answered a practically identical question, but since we have returned to this topic, I will now approach it from a slightly different angle.

In a recent post on monopolies, I mentioned that in a free market there are both factors contributing to the growth of companies and factors contributing to their fragmentation. The inconveniences that individual apartment owners face when attempting to jointly manage an apartment building clearly tell us that in this area, the tendency toward the growth of companies will be stronger in a free market. And indeed, it is more convenient for one developer to build an apartment building, for one legal entity to manage it, and so on. So, as the initial non-market Russian distribution of property (where every apartment has its own owner) is smoothed out, we will more and more often arrive at a situation where apartments are owned by a landlord and rented out by them.

Thus, the boundaries of acceptable behavior when using the apartments will be determined primarily by the owner, not the tenant, and for a quiet, decent resident, this is certainly convenient: you inform the owner that the neighbor is going crazy and has filled the apartment with some stinking junk, and the owner will set things right.

Now, in the event that the neighbor bothering you is actually the owner of their apartment, we fall within the framework of the usual problem of negative externalities: filing a claim, negotiations, threats, court, compensation. Moreover, again, if you are not the owner but a tenant, the problem is solved more easily, since it is easier to determine the amount of damage. You declare your willingness to move out if your landlord does not resolve the problem with the neighbor, and the landlord then presents claims to the neighbor, based on the amount of rent they risk losing, and this is a much more reliable basis for legal proceedings than other methods of assessing damage.

The moral. Housing maintenance is also a business, and no one promised that doing business is easy. But there are ways to make your life easier; after all, it’s the market.

From a libertarian point of view, how should one deal with a neighbor who makes noise throughout the whole house during the night?

After all, he does not actually violate the non-aggression principle, but for reasons of common sense, his actions should nevertheless be stopped.

anonymous question (paid in the amount of 0.0001btc)

How does a human neighbor differ from other annoying factors, such as a thunderstorm, a highway under the windows, flying planes, barking dogs, and so on? Only in that you can try to reach an agreement with them, whereas the most realistic way to avoid the other annoying factors is soundproofing.

But the neighbor, in turn, also understands that by coming to them and demanding that the noise stop, you are demonstrating double standards, because if you had actively protected yourself from the noise of the other sources mentioned above, then the noise from behind the wall would not bother you, as its level would be below the threshold.

Thus, after hearing your requests regarding reducing the volume level, they will expect a deal. The subject of the deal may turn out to be the most unexpected thing.

You can state that since they are celebrating so wildly that it’s impossible to sleep, they should pour you a drink as well—and join the party.

You can ask when the banquet is expected to end, and, having received an answer, declare that you are willing to tolerate it until then, but if they continue after that, they should be prepared for the harshest sanctions, from “I’ll shit under your door” to “I’ll smash the door with an axe.”

You can agree on monetary compensation, enough to spend the night in a quiet hotel nearby…

In general, there are plenty of options.

But, of course, you may also fail to reach an agreement. This will mean that you and your neighbor were unlucky with each other: you had a grievance, you initiated a conflict, the conflict was not resolved, and escalation is possible in the future, which entails costs for both parties. And no daddy-mommy-state will help; you are adults now, it’s time to learn how to negotiate on your own.